Sunday, July 26, 2009

I made the kiwi smoothie for tomorrow's lunch. It has one banana, one kiwi, and half a bag of spinach.

While my kids were here, we ate out too much (but it was So Good!), and I gained some weight. I'm making myself keep up with making smoothies because I need to lose that weight for the wellness fair at work. If I lose one BMI point since last year OR if my BMI is below a certain number, I will not have to pay the insurance increase for this year. I think that's a pretty good incentive to get or keep in shape. I've also been trying to ride my Trikke every evening (unless it's raining).

Both my kids (adults, really) came to visit last weekend and stayed a couple days. My son and I rode Trikkes around our neighborhood one day, and we went kayaking the other day. My daughter joined us after that for lunch and thrift shopping - my son was the only one of us who bought anything!

Picadillo is a cuban dish, usually made with ground or shredded beef. The texture is similar to chili, but the flavor is not. Here is my vegan version.

Easy PicadilloA Cuban dish with the ease of a dump cake

Fill a coffee cup half-way with raisins, cover with rum (any booze), and let soak overnight. If you’re in a big hurry, nuke it for a minute or two, instead.

Dump a can of chopped (no salt added) tomatoes and a can of rinsed black beans into a medium-sized crock pot, and turn the heat up.

Chop and rinse half a small jar of green olives, and add to crock pot. Rinse a small can of sliced or chopped black olives, and add to crock pot.

Throw in ¼ to ½ Cup chopped onions (optional).

Throw lots of ground cinnamon into a coffee cup. Throw in some other spices, too, such as cumin, oregano, basil, garlic, and cilantro, then stir together and dump into the crock pot. Just don’t add salt because of the residual salt in the olives.

Dump the soaked raisins into the crock pot, stir, and turn the heat down.

After about an hour, stir in about a cup of frozen veggie crumbles, and turn the heat up. We use MorningStar Meal Starters – Grillers Recipe Crumbles (usually in the grocer’s freezer next to the frozen Indian food).

In about 30 minutes, turn the heat down, and spoon into bowls. Serve over rice (optional). We also top it with sour cream, which is not vegan.